The R40 million water project flop

Residents of Thabine and Maake villages in the Lenyenye area demanded that the Mopani District Municipality (MDM) provide them with water from the newly completed Thabine Bulk Water Reti-
culation project completed two years ago. But the project turned into a white elephant as since it was completed, there has never been any water in the villages.

The project was implemented by the MDM in 2014 and completed in 2016 at a tune of R 38 million. Water was sourced from the Thabine dam and was meant to supply Mosorong, Thabine, Mokomotji, Nabane, and Moime villages. The standpipes however, remain barren.

Spokesperson for the community, Johannes Maenetja, said the community is fed up with the empty promises they received from the municipality. He said they often without water for more than a month despite the fact that a lot of money was paid to the contractor.

“Always when we approached the municipality we are told that the reason there is no water in the area is due to the fact that some people connected water illegally to their homes. Our people are sometimes attacked by criminals when they leave home at night to fetch water, or they return home to find they have been burgled.”

Spokesperson for the MDM, Neil Shikwambana, said that they are aware of the problem and are in consultation with the community to rectify the situation. He said after the project was completed two years ago some members of the community illegally connected water from the main pipe to their homes thus hampering the smooth supply of water to other villages.

He said as an immediate solution to the problem the MDM resolved to drill more boreholes to supplement the available water sources in the village. The move was rejected by the community upfront saying that they want water from the new reticulation project. However Shikwambana added that technicians were sent to the area to investigate the matter and a decision would be taken thereafter.

By the time of going to print, residents were due to meet at the Moime sports ground to deliberate on the water problems in the villages. The water crisis which affected the Lenyenye township for the past two weeks after the mainline burst, was solved last week Thursday after a contractor was hired to fix the problem.